The Competitive Effect

Practical Sales Training™  > How To Convert > The Competitive Effect

 

 

 

What is it?

The Competitive Effect is all about focussing on the competitive nature of what your buyer is looking to achieve.

 

Why does it work?

From having the biggest to the most expensive, or scoring the highest score, many buyers are competitive by nature. This comes down to FOMO but also has overtones of achieving an advantage over the competition or being exclusive in one way or another. By incorporating an element of competition into your offering, you can tap into this desire to always be the first or the best which will result in buying the necessary things to achieve that outcome. (This is where you come in.)

 

How can you use it?

There are two ways this can be used and by definition, it’s not appropriate for every offering.

  1. The buyer is competing against themselves. Focus on the progress your buyer wants to make and how you can facilitate that transformation, implying that you are on the same team fighting against the same enemy.
  2. The buyer is competing against others. Here we need to focus on how your offering provides an inside track and an advantage over others. We’re still working with them to fight a common enemy, but the enemy is now another person/company rather than their previous high score 🙂

 

Examples

  1. Buyer vs. themselves:
    A fitness app like Strava encourages users to compete with their own previous performance by tracking personal bests and streaks. By showing progress over time, users feel motivated to buy premium features (e.g., training plans) to “beat their own record.”

  2. Buyer vs. others:
    Sales platforms like HubSpot or Salesforce sometimes frame their products as tools that give companies an edge over competitors — highlighting how “top-performing businesses” are using their platform to close deals faster or dominate their market.

 

See also